Distance
by anonymous1222
Summary: All around the world, memories have been erased of the events of Katastrophe. After the death of Kei Kurono, Gantz brings along some new players, one of which comes from the US and can't speak Japanese. How will he survive without a means of communication
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Kei Kurono was running away from the alien as fast as he could. 'Shit,' he thought, 'it didn't work.' He felt the cool, watery liquid from his suit on his face. 'I'm screwed….unless,' he started running faster-pushing his limits until he heard the familiar ringing in his head. It got louder, but he didn't stop until it was all he could hear. He turned around and faced his pursuer. "Bring it on, bitch," he screamed as the alien came in to view. It wasn't very large. It was catlike with no tail and three large claws on each foot that tore up the ground whenever they made contact. "I can take you." he bent his knees and braced himself.

The alien growled and shot forward at Kei, but at the last minute he dove out of the way. One of the claws caught him over the shoulder, but Kei won the battle. He looked back and saw the alien's face filled with anger before it exploded. "Ha," Kei stood up, faced the headless body, and flipped it the bird, "Fuck you," he shouted. He started laughing. Gantz, there's nothing you can throw at me that I can't handle. I'll beat this game of –" He felt something's hot breath on his neck, "Oh shit," a second alien stabbed Kei through the chest with its claws. It pulled them out and he fell to the ground, "I was," he coughed up a lot of blood, "so close."

Distance…

"Come on," I scream at the traffic. I lower my voice, "not today, any day but today." I honk the horn, "Come on," I scream. God damn it. Every time I have something fun to do something like this happens. My cell-phone rings. I look at the caller I.D before answering—it's my mom. I let the call go to voicemail. The clock says 12:47. I was supposed to be in New York City over an hour ago. My friends are going to kill me…Actually, they're not the type to wait. "Uh," I sigh, "why does this always happen to me?" I look behind me…nothing. In front of me it's bumper-to-bumper traffic as far as I can see. And of course, as if to spite me, I am literally the last car in this mess. I don't think I could be in a worse situation. I sigh and lean my head against the window. The phone rings again—it's my mom...of course. I should pick it up. Usually she won't call a second time unless it's an emergency. I answer it, "Hey, Mom,"

"Hey, Aaron. Are you in the city yet?"

"No. I've been stuck in traffic for over two hours."

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey, and it's your first day with your licence."  
"Yeah. You're not going to believe this though," I hear the sound of an engine approaching, "I am the last car in this line." The sound gets louder.

"That is strange."  
"Yeah," I turn around, ignoring the sound as it gets louder. "It kinda makes me feel vulnerable, you know," I say with a chuckle. It gets louder. Any second now this asshole's going slam on his brake and come to a screeching halt right behind my—" I feel my body try to break free from the seat belt and I see a blinding light. I can't feel anything. I can't move. All I see is a bright, white light clouding my vision. I can't hear anything. What's going on?

* * *

What the hell? Where am I? I'm sitting in some strange room with a large black sphere at the other end. Some girl is staring at it, like she expects to find something. Her back's to me so she must not have noticed me. I stand up, "Excuse me, miss," she turns around. I think she's Japanese, "what is this place?"

"% &^*( (*&(." she says in Japanese. I guess watching anime isn't a complete waste of time…then again it's not like I can understand a word she says. We both stare at each other with confused looks.

"Do you speak English?" I ask slowly. She just stares at me…I guess not. I turn around and walk to the door. It leads to a hallway. I see a door. Great, I can leave. I reach for the doorknob, but it won't open. I can't even touch it. No matter how hard I try I can't make contact with the door. I try kicking the wall, but it's the same. It won't even make a sound. I give up and walk back to the room. Another girl has arrived. She sees me and walks straight toward me. She's crying, "!&!) !)*%__ #%&*%#& #)%&* ()%#* )*?"

"I'm sorry, I can't…I don't speak Japanese," I try to mime what I'm saying. After a short pause she nods, so I think she understands. She goes over to the other girl and starts talking to her. I wonder if they're friends. I go over to the wall and lean against it. It's the same thing, I'm not touching the wall— it feels like there's some invisible force stopping me. I elbow it. "Fuck," I shout. I hit it at a weird angle so it hurt my elbow, but the wall made no sound. The two girls turn around, "sorry," I say. Who cares if they don't understand? I should be polite. They go back to their conversation.

I look at my watch. Five minutes have passed since I got here. Suddenly three pairs of shoes appear in the middle of the floor. The girls and I stare at them as strange lasers begin to form the bodies of three boys wearing identical uniforms. Again, Japanese. They take one look at me and turn to face the girls. They start talking to the girls. Probably asking the same questions I did. The lasers show up again. A pair of black shoes appear on the ground near the center of the wall to my right. The lasers form her body slower than it did the bodies of the three boys—like it was building up to some dramatic ending. Long, thin legs; short skirt; large bust—which the lasers seemed to slow down while they were being formed; and then her head. She has long, smooth, black hair tied in a pony-tail. She's like something out of an anime. I have never seen anyone has beautiful as her in my life, not even in movies. Wait, her shirt. It has the same logo on it as those boys' uniforms. She can't be a student. The three boys look back and return to their conversation as if she hadn't appeared. I wonder why.

Green symbols started glowing on the ball. I look over at the lone girl. Only she and I seem to have noticed because the others are still talking. I stand up and walk over. It's Kanji. Great… more confusion. I tap one of the guys, the shorter one, on the shoulder and point at the writing. "Do you know what this says?" I don't think he understands me because he looks confused, but he follows my finger and reads the ball. ")(* *(* %# ^$%. #% #%(*$& #%#&%* #%#. *&(*&& &(* R $&." Suddenly the ball shot open. Guns, rows of them, filed out of the ball. I go over to look at them and notice a man wired into the ball. The others notice him too—one of the girl even screams. Next to him are several cases. They each have something written on them in Kanji. I sort through them and come across one in English, "Aaron Stevens," it says. How does it know my name? I take the case and walk over to the wall and sit by the hallway entrance. I open the case in front of me and inside is a suit. I pick it up. It feels waxy and extremely light.

I stand up and hold it in front of me. "(&(# %%))#&6* *($&%" the shorter guys says and everyone but me and the lone girl laugh. I think I know what he said though. Probably something about how stupid this suit looks. But, if I've learned anything through t.v, you should always put on the stupid looking outfit. I walk into the hallway and take off my shirt and my pants. I step into the suit and try to pull it up. I can't get it over my boxers. "Shit," I say under my breath. I pull down my boxers and step in as the lone girl walks in with a case in her hands. She looks up and gasps. It takes me a second to realize why, "Oh my God," I say and desperately try (and fail) to pull the suit over my bits, "I'm so sorry." She just picks up her case and turns around. I pull hard on the suit and manage to get it on. It's surprisingly comfortable, but at the same time feels like there's nothing there. I feel kind of…exposed. I tap the girl on the shoulder as I walk by and head back in to the room.

When the others spot me they say a few things in Japanese, laugh, and walk toward the door. "Hey," I say as they try to get to the hallway, "she's changing," the shorter guy just laughs me off and tries to get past me, but I bar the door with my arm. "You can't go in yet," I say firmly. He walks right up to me and stares me at the face. I may be almost a foot taller than him. I try to look tough, but it's hard to be intimidating at 6'4" 141 pounds, especially when you're wearing a skin tight, cosplay-esque suit. He pushes me to the side and tries to walk in, "I said no," I grab him and pull him back into the room. One of his friends pushes me against the wall and punches me in the stomach…I don't feel a thing. I notice the symbols on the ball change again. They are shocked that I wasn't affected by the punch. I use the moment break his hold on me and walk up to it. A picture of some strange animal appears. It looks kind of like a cat. I stare at the picture for a few seconds (I can't read the kanji next to it) when the others walk up and notice it too, but unlike me they can actually read what it says. They all laugh then the symbols change into a timer—counting down from one hour. I look at the guns and then at the picture again. It hits me. It must be a sort of hunt.

One of the girls screams and I turn around. One of the boys is disappearing. I quickly look at the gun rack and grab the closest one to me, a strange tri-barreled handgun with two triggers. The rest of the students start disappearing as the lone girl comes back into the room. She smiles at me and looks at the gun in my hand. Without missing a beat she grabs one of the handguns—a single barreled one—just before she disappears as well. Now I'm the only one left. Am I being left behind?

Suddenly I'm on the sidewalk of some street. The lone girl is appearing by me. I look down and notice that my body hasn't completely arrived yet. I can move my hand, at least I think I can, but it's like I'm moving it somewhere else. When the rest of my body appears I walk over to the girl, "Hello," I say slowly, "do you know any English?"

"Yes," she says in a heavy Japanese accent, "little," she holds her thumb and index finger up in a pinching position, miming what she said.

"Do you know what this is?" She shakes her head. "Okay. Let's go. I start walking and she walks by my side. I wonder what people will think when they see us dressed like this?

"What your name?" she asks.

"Aaron Stevens." I say, "You?"

"Kei Suzuki."

"Nice to meet you, Kei," I say. She just nods.

"You from America?"

"Yes," I say.

"Why you in Japan?"

"I don't know. I was at home, driving to New York, when I saw a light and ended up here…wait a minute," that flash. That feeling like I was being shot forward. I was in a car crash. I didn't…no. That's impossible—I can't be. I spot a police officer a few feet ahead. I walk up to him, "Excuse me." He doesn't turn. "Excuse me," I say louder. He doesn't hear me. I stand right in front of him and wave my gun in front of his face. He doesn't react; it's as if I'm not there. "What the hell is going on?" the officer just gets in his car and drives away. That proves it. I must be…dead.

I just stare into the distance. I can't believe what just happened. Can I really be dead? I feel the pulse on my wrist, I'm still breathing, but why didn't he notice me? And why does no one look twice at these ridiculous suits?

Kei pulls at my elbow, "What is it?" I ask. She points into the alleyway. A strange catlike animal is back there…it's the thing that the ball showed us. "Stay back, I'm going to check this thing out." I walk closer to the thing. She stays behind me; I don't think she understood a word I just said.

"What the hell," I say. This thing isn't a cat. It's got no tail and it has huge claws. This proves it, it must be a hunt. It's back is to me so I haven't been spotted, but if I can just back out quietly nothing will...I bump into Kei behind me and she lets out a gasp. The thing turns around and roars. "Shit, run," I grab her hand and pull her with me. The thing chases us out of the alley, but none of the people run. It's the middle of the day and they can't see it. I look back and aim my gun. I don't know which trigger to pull, so I pull them both. A bright triangular light shoots out and hit the thing. Suddenly ropes appear and hold the thing in place. What the hell? I stop running, Kei stops with me. I walk up to it. It's struggling against the rope, but it can't break free. Kei taps me on the shoulder and points with her index finger and mimics a gun firing. "Yeah, good idea." I aim the gun at the thing and fire again. The same lasers that took us to and from the room appear and the thing starts to vanish. "I guess that's it, huh?" I smile at Kei and she smiles back. We start walking back to the place where we arrived. I wonder what happens now?

Suddenly I hear a scream. "What was that," I scream.

Kei starts running toward the scream and screams back "Follow." I start sprinting after her. This can't be good.


	2. Chapter 2

We finally reach the source of the scream. One of the school girls is on the ground staring straight into one of those things' eyes. Shit, there's more than one. She is surrounded by blood and body parts. Did that thing do all of this? I raise my gun

"Help me," She screams at us. The thing turns around and stares at Kei and me. Shit. I fire the gun, but the thing dodges. It darts forward and slashes at me with the claws on its right forepaw. Only one of them hits me, but it makes a deep gash in my right arm and I drop the gun. It steps on the weapon and slices it in half with its claws. Kei raises her own gun, but the beast slashes at her too, hitting her side and knocking her down. I see that she's still breathing, but she's unconscious and is bleeding badly.

I start backing away. "What do I do?" I say to myself.

The other girl stands up and starts running away. I see another one of these things…she's running straight for it, "Wait, girl, stop. There's another one," too late. The beast jumps out and bites her on the neck, severing her head. Shit. Now they are both advancing on me, slowly, shoulder-to-shoulder.

What do I do? I look left and right, but there's nowhere to hide. Just empty street. If we were still by the town I could hide amongst the people, but no such luck. They start backing me against a wall. They're playing with me. Tormenting their food before they kill it. I'm screwed…wait, Kei's gun. It's right by her hand. If I can get to it, maybe I'll be okay. But how am I going to do that? I'm against the wall now. I got it!

The two things stop advancing and bend their knees. Here it comes. They leap forward and at the last second I role out to my left. I get another claw to my shoulder, but I hear a resounding crack as their heads collide with the cement wall. I stand up and sprint toward the gun. I dive and grab it. I turn around and take aim at the one on my right. They are right next to each other. I might just be able to pull this off. I pull the triggers…nothing happens. "Oh shit." I swear those things are smiling right now. I'm done for. Looks like I'm going to…the one on the right stops and the other one looks back at it. The thing's head expands and blows up. Gore and skull are everywhere. The other one growls and sprints at me. I raise the gun again and fire. It's still sprinting. "please work…come one, please…" the same thing happens. Gore and brains and skull everywhere, and its body collapses in a puddle of blood.

I sit down, exhausted, by Kei. She's still breathing, Maybe I can get her to a hospital…but they can't even see us. I'll just have to find a way to get her home and try to stitch her up…and myself. My arm is killing me and I'm losing blood fast. Well, it can't be much harder than sewing a button onto a shirt, "I wonder why we even needed these suits." I pull at the collar of mine, "Does it even do anything?". I look up and Kei and the others are disappearing. Then, the same thing happens to me. What's going on?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We're back in the room. Well, Kei and I are. No one else is here. She wakes up, her wound is gone and her suit is patched back up. "Are you okay?" I ask. She nods. That's good. So, I guess if you die you don't come back. Wait my arm…it's not bleeding anymore. There isn't even a scar. So you come back perfectly fine if you survive, but you're gone for good if you die? This is fucked up. More characters on the ball begin to glow. I walk up to it, "Why can't it say it in English too?" I say to myself. Suddenly, numbers and letters appear underneath the characters. "Leet speak?...you could have done this before, you nearly got us killed, bastard."

"5C0R35." it read.

"Scores?" I ask Kei as she sits down beside me, "Scores for what?"

"0T4KU," it reads, "0 points…C4N Y00 D0 4NYTH1NG, BUT C05P14Y?"

"You cosplay?" I ask her. She gives an embarrassed smile.

"G41J1N…15 P01NT5…5T1LL 4 5TUP1D F0R3IGN3R."

Kei laughs at the Gaijin line, "so you cosplay?" I smirk. She stops laughing. We hear a click and the sound of a door opening from the hallway, "Was that…" Kei heads to the hallway and motions for me to follow.

"It's open," I say once I notice the door held slightly ajar, "I guess it's over." I head for the door, but Kei pulls on my arm. "What is it?"

She points back to the room with the Black Ball.

"Huh?" what's she….I look into the room—noticing that the ball had closed— "Oh, our clothes," they were still lying in the piles where we left them. I walk over and pick up my clothes, "I'll stay here. Why don't you change in the hallway?"

She gathers her clothing and heads to the hallway. "Great," I say to myself, "maybe she knows more English than I thought."

I don't want to bother with wrestling the suit off, so I decide to put my clothes on over it. As I button my pants I look over at the black ball. I walk over to it and kneel down. "What are you?"

Nothing happens. I sigh and stand up, but as I pull on my shirt, an image appears on the surface of the ball. It's a burning city. "Is that…" it can't be… "that's New York City," I'd recognize the Empire State Building anywhere, "What is this?"

"N0N3 0f U Rem3mb3r. Do U? Katastrophe?" I have no idea what it's talking about. "It my be 0ver. But th3 b0sses wi11 mak3 u play unti1 th3 3nd 0f dys. Th3 gme has just b3gun….That's the theory anyway."

The bosses? The game? Katastrophe? What is this? New York City has never been like that…. I hear a door close. "Huh…Kei? Wait…" I run after her….

* * *

A/N: I picked this up after a huge hiatus. I had done half of this chapter a few months ago, and just picked it up recently. I started this fanfic having only seen the anime, but after getting up to date on the manga I realized I needed to change some things around to make it the same universe. Thanks for reading, please review…


	3. Chapter 3

"Kei," I call after the girl, but she just walks faster down the street, "Kei, wait up." I run toward her and grab her wrist, "Kei Suzuki, please wait for a minute, I need…"

"&#*^& &*!& *8&* (#%&" she screams at me. I don't know what she said, but I can tell she doesn't want me anywhere near her. I let go of her wrist and she runs away.

What the hell is wrong with that girl? Before we got back to the room she acted like she was okay with me… She was probably just using me to make sure she stayed safe…

I sigh…

or maybe I just scared her by running after her.

I stop at a bench outside of a train station and sit down.

"Great," I say to myself, "I'm stuck in Japan, at night, with no money, no home, and no friends. And on top of that, a huge black ball filled with weapons is making me kill a bunch of….things in order to survive…" this is insane….or maybe I'm insane.

I lie down on the bench, "It's cold," I say as I wrap my arms tight across my chest and close my eyes.

I feel a jab in my ribs. I open my eyes and use my arm to shield them from the sun. "(*&#%" someone says, "%^!%." I sit up. A cop is standing over me, nightstick in hand. "(#(%"

"I'm sorry," I say, hoping he knows English, "I don't speak Japanese."

"You American?" he asks.

"Yes…yes, thank god, you speak English."

"You have passport?"

Fuck… "No, I don't, but I can exp…." Shit, like he's gonna believe anything I'd say.

"You come with me," he grabs my wrist.

"Wait," I pull my wrist from his grip, "look, I just want to get home, so if I could—" he hits me across the face with his nightstick…but I don't feel any pain. He's staring at me in shock.

He pulls out his gun and points it at me, "Get on ground."

Does the suit protect me, even when we're not hunting? I pause and look the officer right in the eyes before tackling him, taking his gun, and running away.

I look over my shoulder and see him making a call on his walkie-talkie, but I keep running.

I turn into an alley and fall to the ground, exhausted. How was I able to do that so easily? He was huge, I shouldn't have been able to do that to him…

I look at the gun in my hand…fuck, now their going to be after me.

I hear sirens nearing and I hide the gun in my shirt. What am I supposed to do?

"*($ &) #^%_ %%" I turn and see two guys in school uniforms. One of them looks uncomfortable, like he doesn't want to be here.

"Huh?" I say.

"*($ &) #^%_ %%" I think he just repeated himself. Is he asking me something?

The other one pulls on the speaker's sleeve. He looks like he might be younger "*&^ )(* #^%%," yeah, there's no way he wants to be here, but why would….wait, do they think I'm selling drugs or something.

"(*&(Q% )*(#%& $%!" the older one yells, and the younger student runs away. He turns back to me, "*($ &) #^%_ %%." He repeated himself….maybe I should just walk away.

I turn and walk deeper into the alley, but he just follows me…shit, is there any way I could get him to…we turn the corner, we're all alone.

Wait…could I…I stop and pull the gun out in front of me, making sure to keep it out of the student's vision. Should I….do I really have a choice? If I don't I'll be arrested…but what if I get caught doing…..this.

"*&" he says, sounding annoyed. I turn my head and see he's walking away.

"Wait," I call and he stops in his tracks. I hold the gun behind my back and walk up to him.

"*(& (*)#%_ % #%&_" he says with a huge grin on his face.

Shit….my hand's shaking…. I haven't even done anything yet. Well, it's now or never. I swing the gun around and point it right in his face, "Give me your clothes," I say, my arm shaking like crazy, "give it to me or I'll shoot," shit….shit…shit...shit….could I even shoot him if I have to?

"(W*&) )(%* )!(% )(*!_ !%)(*" he says. I think He's begging me to let him go…shit, this would be so much easier if he spoke English… "(*&% !(* )%()" he shouts, and I hit him in the side of the head with the barrel of the gun.

Fuck, he's bleeding badly…blood was pouring out of his head. I didn't mean to hit him that hard….but he was screaming. Well, I've already gone this far.

I pull the uniform off the student's body.

I pull my shirt over my head and take off my jeans…Shit, what was I thinking, this isn't going to work. He's at least half a foot shorter than me. I hold the pants up to my legs and see that they don't even reach my ankles.

I try to put on the kid's suit, but it's too small and rips when I try to button it. Fuck! I rip it off, but notice a soft thump as it hits the ground.

"Hmm?" I reach into the pocket and pull out a wallet. "Perfect." I say. I look in it, there's a little less than 10,000 Yen in bills in it.

"Let's see…a Yen is about a penny, so this should get me some new clothes. That should help me hide from the cops for…." wait, this is his money. I can't just…no, I have no choice. It's either this or get arrested. And what am I going to tell the police? That a black ball transported me to Japan? Yeah, right. That'll land me right in an insane asylum. I take the cash out and pocket it, dropping the wallet in the pool of blood. I wipe the gun off on the student's jacket, drop it, and kick it down the alley.

What else can I do?

I pull the gloves of my suit off and put them in my pocket. I don't need anything that'll make me stick out in a crowd…..

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx XxXxXxXxXxXxXx XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

I hope you enjoyed the update. Please Review…


	4. Chapter 4

I look through the clearance rack at the store. Let's see, I just need something to hide from the cops…wait, this is ridiculous, are they actually going to bother trying to catch someone who ran from a cop for sleeping on a bench…

I sigh…

No…but they will search for someone who assaulted a cop and stole his gun…then they'll probably find out that I used said gun to mug a student.

I see a black baseball cap…perfect. I grab it off the rack. I search through the shirts trying to find something, anything in my size.

Shit…no larges or extra-larges. I have to find something. I hear a passing squad car with its sirens on…if that cop gave them a description of me, I have to hurry this up.

I'm gonna have to leave the clearance section to find anything.

Someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around, "(^&^ )%(* !#$" a girl asks.

"I'm sorry I don't speak…I'm a little…I just need a large shirt," I doubt my accompanying hand motions help at all.

"Oh, you American?"

"Yes…oh thank god, you speak English."

"Oh, no worry. I know just what you need." She walks me over to a rack and pulls off a coat, "this fit you well," I try it on, it would be perfect. But I look at the price-tag….shit…20,000 yen.

"I'm sorry, but this is too much," I pull off the coat.

"How much you spend?"

"10,000."

"Hmm…" she thinks about it, "Oh, I know," she drags me to another rack, "here," she pulls off a sweatshirt. It's grey with something written in Japanese on the front.

I read the price-tag. It's only 5,000 yen…perfect. But the Japanese strikes me, "Umm, it's good, but what does this say?" I point to it.

"Oh that? It say 'I love Tokyo.'" under normal circumstances I'd keep searching, but now is not the time to be picky.

"Perfect." I grit my teeth and smile. The girl rings me up and I put on the sweatshirt and hat as I leave the store. As a cop car passes by I pull the hat low over my eyes. They can't keep this search up for too long. They have to call it off soon…they wouldn't spend so much time on such a case, they'll probably drop it in a day or two…but regardless…

I walk until I come across a diner. I head in and the hostess comes up to me, "*(*_ #^(*& %)(*"

"Uh…" shit, nothing's going my way today, "just one." I hold up a finger.

"(*" she says, sounding pretty doubtful, probably because I won't be able to read anything on the menu, but she leads me to a table and leaves a menu.

"Thanks," I say as she leaves.

I open the menu. Thankfully some of the choices have pictures next to them, and it doesn't look too expensive.

Shit, this sucks. I have to find a way home, while hiding from the police in a country where I don't speak any of the language.

"(*& (* *" I look up. The waitress is asking for my order, I think.

"Um," I look at the menu and point at what looks like a pretty basic rice dish, "Can I get whatever this is?"

She looks at the picture and nods before taking the menu and heading back to the kitchen.

I sit at the table for a few minutes before the waitress returns with my food. She puts it on the table, bows, and says something before heading off.

Once the smell of the food hits me I realize just how hungry I am. I break the chopsticks, pick up a chunk of rice, and start eating. "Thank you Benihana," I say with a smile as I eat the meal. "Well, at least something turned out right for once."

I finish the meal and sit at the booth for a few minutes, content with the relaxing atmosphere, before the waitress comes back with my check. "Thank you," I say as she walks off, and I pull what's left of my funds out of my pocket.

I look at the bill. It's only a little under 300 yen. And I know I need to be careful with what I've got, but I'd feel bad if I didn't leave a tip, especially after having spent a summer waiting tables myself. It's not much, but I leave her an extra 100-yen coin and stand up to leave. But as I start to head out I notice a payphone outside of the diner. "Perfect," I smile and rush out the door.

I pick up the phone, deposit the fee, and dialed the number—with the long distance fee, though I doubt it'll make the call.

"Please work, please work, please work" I say into the receiver, but all I get is a voice saying, "(*&% %)* )()."

Hopeful that it's just saying something along the lines of 'For an overseas call, please deposit x amount of money' I deposit all the coins in my pocket, and the phone starts ringing.

"Yes," I shout in excitement as I eagerly await my mother's voice on the other end of the line…

"Hello?" her voice comes through the earpiece of the phone, I'm almost about to jump for joy.

"Mom, it's me."

"Who is this?" she snaps at me…she must be angry or something…probably that I wasn't home.

"It's your son…Aaron…I know this might sound crazy, but I'm in Japan and…"

"You little prick," she yells, "my son goes missing after his wrecked car is found on fire on the side of the road, and you call with this sick prank?"

"But Mom, it is me?"

"Really? And what are you doing in Japan? What, you didn't think I'd ignore the caller ID did you?" wait, is she serious? "Who is this? David Skinner? I swear, I'm going to tell your mother about this, and when I do—" she gets cut off by a beep and the voice from before says something in Japanese—probably asking for more money—and I hang up.

"Fuck" I say under my breath, fighting tears, "she didn't believe me…what am I going to do now…"

I walk out of the booth and down the road…

And why the fuck would she think David Skinner would call her…from Japan? I haven't seen him since he got expelled for trying to throw that middleschooler out a window

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I hope you enjoyed the update. Please Review…


	5. Chapter 5

"(*&% )#(%* )" A cop screams after me as I run as fast as I can away from him.

"Damn it, they just won't let up," I say. I look back and, noticing that I'm probably lost in the crowd, I duck into an alley.

Is this how I'm going to live the rest of my life? Ducking in and out of alleyways, dodging police. I have to find a way to get home.

I look up at the sky, the sun's already low on the horizon. I'm going to have to find a place to crash tonight. But I can't sleep out in the open like last night.

My stomach growls… I guess I should go find a restaurant. Maybe I'll be able to think of something after getting some food.

I pull the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and make my way through the crowd until I reach a place that seems nice and quiet…in other words it has no windows, so I won't have to worry about passing cops. The only reason I know it's a restaurant is because of the paintings of food on the sign.

I walk into the restaurant. Maybe after a meal I'll be able to concentrate enough to….strike that…all of the waitresses are cosplaying…very convincing cosplay I might add.

"(*(% %& (*%" the hostess, wearing a very fitting—in all senses of the word—Belldandy costume greets me.

"Um, can I just get a table for one please?" I hold up a finger.

"Oh, no problem," she says…huh…English. Maybe she can help me out. She leads me to a table and calls out, "*&^(* *)$ %*" I could have sworn I heard her say 'Suzuki'…well, even if she did there's no way it could be the same girl. "No worry, she speak more English." she walks away.

Well, that's good news. Things are finally starting to look—I hear something drop and look up…Kei is looking down at me in shock. "You," I say, "Thank god, I was hoping I'd run into…" I stop once I notice her outfit—Sailor Moon—classic…come on Aaron, this is not the time for your head to be in the gutter…but it does explain what that ball was talking about, "look, I need help getting home. I don't know what—"

"*)(* )(# )#(%" she yells at me, and everyone in the restaurant stares.

"Look, I don't understand what your saying," I'm starting to get a little pissed now.

"Stay away," she yells. She bends down and picks up the notepad she dropped and storms off.

That's it, I'm sick of this, "Hey," I stand up and walk after her. I see the hostess picking up the phone, "Look, I don't know what the hell is going on," I grab her wrist and turn her toward me, "and I'm sure you don't either, but I don't think it's over and unless we figure something out, we may not live through another one of…whatever the hell that was." I stare at her angry face. She's acting like she…shit, she doesn't understand me, "You have no idea what I'm saying, do you?" She raises an eyebrow. Fuck, only the basics. I hear a siren approaching—I better speed this up. I point to myself, "Me," I point to her, "you. Work together. Survive."

She stares at me for a moment before slapping me with her free hand and pulling her other one from my grasp.

"(*) )#%( ))" the hostess yells and points at me as two cops enter the restaurant.

I sigh. I guess I don't have much of a choice…I reach into my pockets, pull out the gloves, and shove my hands into them as the cops make their way toward me. "I'm sorry about this," I grab Kei around the waist, pull her in tight, and charge at the wall. I connect with my shoulder, sending brick and debris everywhere, and making a hole large enough for me to escape as the cops call for backup.

Looks like it never gets easier.

I keep running. People jump out of my way, not bothering to help the girl that I am essentially kidnapping. I don't hear any sirens right behind me, but in the distance I can hear them starting up. "Look," I say, "I really am sorry about this, but until I figure out why the fuck I'm in Japan when I should be with my friends in the city, you and me are sticking together. You got that?"

She screams, I cover her mouth, "Look, I'm not going to hurt you I just want…" suddenly I'm in the room with the black ball. "What the fuck?" I look down, but my body isn't there. "What's happ—" it starts appearing out of thin air, slowly, until I am completely in the room with Kei passed out in my arms.

"()*# #)%* )% (*#_ #%%# %)*%(*#)" a young man with spiked up hair says to the guy with buzzed hair to his right and they both laugh. I'm not sure what he said, but it probably had to do with how Kei's dressed…I look down at my 'I Love Japan' sweatshirt…or how WE are dressed I guess.

Two more bodies start appearing as well, starting with their heads. One is a young woman with long, dyed red hair. The other, an older man with graying hair. As more of their bodies appear it is obvious that this wasn't a father-daughter relationship. They were sitting as if they had been in a car, and the woman's hand was on his exposed genitals. Once the entirety of their bodies was in the room, they fell to the ground and the man quickly put away his junk.

Then another starts appearing. A little girl in a school uniform holding a small black cat. She just sits there, staring off into space…maybe she's in shock.

I go over to her as more bodies start appearing, "Hey," I ask her, "are you okay?" no response. I grab her shoulder and shake her, "Can you understand me?" she starts panting…crap is she… I wave my hand in front of her, nothing…. "HEY" I scream in her ear, and the cat jumps out of her arms and runs to the hallway.

"*&#( !)) %#(*" an older woman says, probably thinking I'm trying to hurt the girl.

"I'm sorry. But I think she's deaf and blind."

"You're American?" a someone asks me. I turn around and see the young woman who came in with the man.

"Yeah…wait, you speak English?"

"Yes, what is this?"

"Oh thank god, someone who can understand me."

"What do you mean?"

"*(# )#(* %#*(%" the guy who laughed earlier screams at me.

"What did he say?" I ask the woman.

"He wants to know what the hell's going on. As do I," I stand up and notice the others—now joined by an elderly couple—staring at the black ball.

"Okay, can you translate for me?" She nods, "Listen up?" she follows what I say with something in Japanese, "Any minute now that Black Ball over there is going to start playing music, then it's going to open up. When this happens you need to grab the suits marked with your name and put them on."

"(**$%% ^ $!^ & 0(49*" the older woman asks.

"She wants to know what suits."

"These," I take off my sweatshirt and show them the suit I am wearing. "If you want to survive you'll wear it." After the young woman translates what I say, the older man and the two younger boys laugh and go out into the hallway. "Hey, it's not going to work."

"#%)(* %#)(*" the older man screams.

"He says—"

"I think I got that one," I heard him say Gaijin. No translation necessary, "Look, I know it's farfetched, but you have to believe me. Me and Kei," I point to her, "went through this before, and we only survived because of these suits. Everyone else ended up dead," The younger woman stuttered. She looked at me with a puzzled look, "trust me," I whispered to her. She nodded.

"(*#$ !#)(* )(%*" one of the younger boys screamed from the hallway and the three ran back into the room.

"The door didn't open," I say before the young woman can translate. She nodded. "Look. I know it's hard to believe, but any minute now—" the music starts. "It's begun…" I say to myself.

The boy with the spiked up hair walks up to the side of the ball and kicks it. He growls and points at the sliding door leading to the veranda, "(*) #!)(*_ _#%)(*" he screams to his friend with the buzzed hair.

He walks over to the glass door and kicks, but no damage is done. Not even a sound is made. "*()# )#*& _ 95" the buzzed hair kid runs up to me, I'm guessing wondering what's going on.

"Look, I don't know much more than you at this point. All I know is that we're about to go on a hunt," the music stops and the ball springs open. The spiked hair boy hits the door with a thud, points at the ball, and screams. I walk up and grab one of the rifles, then I notice just what he's screaming at.

Inside the ball is a naked, bald man. "Hey," I poke the man….how'd I not notice that before? He doesn't respond.

"Everyone," I shout, and the young woman resumes translating, "you don't have much time. Grab your suit and change. Go in the hall if you have to."

Only the young woman and Kei go to the ball and grab their case and a gun. The others just laugh…too bad for them. I can't force them into anything.

I look down at the girl…she has no idea what's going on, "Hey," I ask the woman as she takes her case to the hallway, "Can you take her to the hallway? She's going to need a suit for protection."

"Sure." I go to the ball and search the suits until I find the smallest one. I toss the case to the woman. "Um," she says, "unless her name is 'Cat' you've got the wrong one."

"What? But it's the smallest one."

"I think this is the cats. It seems that thing is either really compassionate or has some sense of humor."

"All right," I search the suits for the next smallest one, "here, suit her up, then get ready yourself."

")(*Q_&% %(*#!& _!#)%*" the spiked hair boy screams as the older man and his friend start disappearing.

"Hurry up, if you want to survive, get dressed." Kei tugs at my arm, "What is it? Why aren't you ready yet?" she shows me her empty case. "Oh crap, you took it home, didn't you?" she nods and she starts disappearing, "Okay, take the gun, and wait for me. Make sure you stay by my side." She's gone.

The young woman walks into the room, holding the girl, as the spiked hair boy starts disappearing as well. "Hey," she asks, "what's behind that door?" she points to the one by the ball.

"I don't know. Why?"

"Well," the little girl started disappearing, when they tried kicking out the glass door, they couldn't even make contact with it, but when the guy hit this one, it made a sound." she starts disappearing.

I quickly look at the face of the ball. There's a picture of a strange plant like thing on it, "Is that the alien?" I ask, "It doesn't look too threatening…"

"Wait, what's your name?" I scream, "It's Sakura….Sakura Rei," she's gone.

I run over to the door and open it, "Woah," inside is a strange bike, and lining the walls…what looks like the hilt of swords. Suddenly I'm not in the room… "Shit," I lunge forward, I feel myself hitting the wall, and grab two hilts just before my hands leave the room.

Once my entire body is out, I see the others around me, scared…silent.

"It's…a greenhouse….Fuck."

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Knowing Gantz, you know he's just trying to Fuck with Aaron…oh and how he's succeeding.

Big update this time. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the update. Please Review…


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